Her family had come to a church where I was pastoring that morning, a routine Sunday. A thousand things would never have crossed their minds as they drove through Colorado Springs toward New Life Church’s enormous concrete worship center - including the prospect of being assaulted in their minivan by a young man with a high-powered rifle.

Later that day, we were all at a local hospital. The girl whose hand I held, Rachel, had already lost a sister at the scene. Her father was down the hall in critical condition and her mother was coming undone in the waiting room, but she didn’t know any of it. Rachel lay unconscious for a couple of hours more in the ICU.

And then she died. Her family had come to church together that morning, and by nightfall they were shattered.

That was almost five years ago.

The movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado shook me and the rest of the nation. Reading about the young and unsuspecting victims took me back to the dying girl in the ICU who had come to my church that day in 2007, in a an incident that left the two girls dead and injured several others. Back to the Columbine massacre a decade earlier that horrified the world and traumatized Colorado. And back to the aching questions that accompanied those previous incidents: Why did this happen? Where was God in all of it? How could a loving God allow this?

We pastors face the unenviable task of being asked to answer for God. Most people ask the big questions in times of irresolution, times when satisfying answers are scarce.

Let’s be clear: there are no easy answers to the deepest questions of suffering. Libraries overflow with the volumes that have been written to address these questions. Centuries of philosophers, pundits and preachers have reflected on the existence of evil, the meaning of pain and the role of God in suffering.

I won’t begin to recount all of their ruminations here. But here’s what I think.

God is the author of life and the originator of good. He distinguished humankind from among his creation with faculties like reason, emotion, dexterity and choice. Scripture teaches that God made people in his image. Set apart from all the rest of his creatures, we were endowed with the capacity to know our Creator and ennobled with the ability to choose him. So singularly did God love humans that he gave us this ultimate gift.

The capacity to choose God and goodness came with the commensurate ability to choose evil. Is it loving to force his creation to follow his order, or to teach it and leave the creature to choose? It would seem that God came to the same conclusion that America’s founders did many millennia later: compulsory virtue is no virtue at all.

But Scripture also teaches that God is totally in control. He is all-powerful and all-knowing and he is willing and able to intervene in human events. So there is a gap between human choice and divine foreknowledge, a gap that transcends understanding and that helps define God in my mind.

The debate over this theological tension has persisted for centuries, and I don’t aim to settle it here. Let me suggest simply that God, in his sovereignty, has chosen to make our decisions meaningful. Consequently, much of what happens on earth neither conforms to nor results from his preference. There are at least four influences on human events: God’s will, to be sure; but also the will of Satan, our adversary; peoples’ choices, for better or for worse; and natural law (gravity, collision, combustion, and the like).

It is difficult to know which force causes the circumstances that devastate us. But it is enough to know that God need not be responsible for them.

Much of the internal gridlock around tragedy is because suffering is foreign to us. This foreignness is peculiarly Western and modern. Most of the world, for most of the world’s history, has known tragedy and trauma in abundance.

You don’t get nearly the same consternation in Burundi or Burma, because suffering is normal to them. God and hard times coexist intuitively there. For us, though, God has become Anesthetist-in-Chief. To believe in him is to be excused from bad things. He is our panacea for the woes of life.

The God of the Bible promises no exemption from suffering. In fact, he all but promises suffering. He does not suggest that his followers won’t go through fire, but rather that we won’t burn up. Mostly he promises to be there with us, to comfort and encourage us and renew our strength. God grieves with us, and he grows us into good people in the process.

Where was God in Aurora? He was on the lawn in front of the Civic Building as thousands gathered in solidarity, hope, and love at a packed prayer vigil last Sunday. He was in University Hospital as neurosurgeons groped for synonyms for miraculous.

He was in the outpouring of compassion at a victim’s funeral and in the passionate call for unity from a resolute councilwoman and at the bedside vigil of a wounded victim’s church community. Redemption has only begun in Aurora, and already God is everywhere. Their will be beauty once this story is written that overshadows and transcends the ashes.

Jesus started his ministry by declaring, “I am the light of the world,” and ended it with “you are the light of the world.”

What God our cities will see is what we show them. From the beginning, light has shone in the darkness - he ordered it that way. And the deeper the darkness, the brighter the light will appear. Where is God in Aurora? He is shining brightly from the hearts of his people.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rob Brendle.

soundoff(4,566 Responses)

Bredman

God. There's something here, something very real, your conscience knows it is real, it is evident in the conviction of Christian faith just as much as the opposition from those who hold "the world view" and their vain attempts at convincing believers that God does not exist. You will notice that you won't see these same level of oppositions against any other belief system, where people who hold the worldly opinion would be so motivated and compelled as to try and convince believers that their faith is wrong. The Bible warns us against the Antichrist, it is coming and it will rule the world, it is a sign of end times.

August 2, 2012 at 1:08 pm |

Daniel

Atheists:
I know many there are many people that practice religion just by fanaticism, I've seen many people in my opinion stupid (excuse the word) praying to saints hopping to solve their problems by repeating pre-made sentences over and over, but there are others different, I don't think Religion and Science need to be opposites, I believe in God, I'm Catholic and I have many reasons to believe in him, I don't think however that we should pray instead of looking for the cause and applying a solution, Atheists think they are smart because they focus on Science and technology instead of putting their faith in a God, I don't think God will solve our problems, i think he gave us the means to solve them by ourselves that's were God is, also I think that God created everything but not as a Magical thing but stablishing certain rules like Physics and Quimics etc. he's not an idiot and he knew how to make it so everything was on balance, he's the Scientist of Scientist the Mathematic of Mathematics, the Physician of Physicians, from the tiny little fact that a mosquito, an insect species needs to feed from blood from a completely different species, who created the mosquitos that way? who knew there would exist other creatures that would contain blood? don't you think everything is too perfect like to deny an existence of a God? how come we live in a planet that meets the exact needs of a human to be alive? I know you may say microorganisms adaptation led to evolution and millions of years passed before we are what we are now, but still i think it's too perfect, there has to be a beginning for all of this and it is God, and you may ask, who created God then? nobody did, he invented time so there wasn't a before before him I know it's hard to understand our tiny human minds can't handle it.

August 2, 2012 at 12:40 pm |

Sarah

Perfect?? Are you kidding me? If anything it would be a flaw in "design" that creatures have to devour each other in order to survive. And if you really think it's a coincidence that the world meets our survival needs, you do not understand evolution.

August 2, 2012 at 1:48 pm |

Steve

Daniel, You're Delusional! Faith is pretending to know something you do not know, or, Belief in something for which there is no evidence. Take some classes in Evolutionary biology, physics, chemistry, cosmology and start to think critically instead of being a sheple.

August 2, 2012 at 3:27 pm |

More Religion, More Murder

Murder rates are lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious nations where belief in God is deep and widespread (Jensen 2006; Paul 2005; Fajnzylber et al. 2002; Fox and Levin 2000).

And within America, the states with the highest murder rates tend to be highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon (Ellison et al. 2003; Death Penalty Information Center, 2008). Furthermore, although there are some notable exceptions, rates of most violent crimes tend to be lower in the less religious states and higher in the most religious states (United States Census Bureau, 2006).

Finally, of the top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively non-religious countries, and of the eight cities within the United States that make the safest-city list, nearly all are located in the least religious regions of the country (Mercer Survey, 2008).

Check out the new article on this, which quotes from this discussion. The editor of the belief blog has had his feelings hurt, and now he wants to say the internet is "church for atheists." Aww, so cute when they get up on their hind legs and defend God from us. Don't worry, God, some guy named 'Dan' has your back.

August 2, 2012 at 10:04 am |

NewYorkGal12

I read the article. The author never says his feelings have been hurt. Where do you get that?

August 2, 2012 at 11:09 am |

EnjaySea

I read the article. It's just suggesting that blogging and commenting on atheist topics is the equivalent of a church for atheists. I didn't see anything about feelings being hurt either. You might be imagining things.

August 2, 2012 at 11:49 am |

NewYorkGal12

Some atheists use the weak argument that believers are stupid, dim-witted, uneducated, crazy, etc.

These atheists that think that religious people are stupid are ignorant, and ignorant by choice. A simple google search will confirm that some of the most brilliant minds in history have been believers in God.

Even highly intelligent people who are staunch atheists leave room for the possibility of God.

Dawkins:
Dawkins posits that "the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis like any other." He goes on to propose a continuous "spectrum of probabilities" between two extremes of opposite certainty, which can be represented by seven "milestones". Dawkins suggests definitive statements to summarize one's place along the spectrum of theistic probability. These "milestones" are:[2]
Strong theist. 100 per cent probability of God. In the words of C.G. Jung: "I do not believe, I know."
De facto theist. Very high probability but short of 100 per cent. "I don't know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there."
Leaning towards theism. Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. "I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God."
Completely impartial. Exactly 50 per cent. "God's existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable."
Leaning towards atheism. Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. "I do not know whether God exists but I'm inclined to be skeptical."
De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
Strong atheist. "I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung knows there is one."
Dawkins argues that while there appear to be plenty of individuals that would place themselves as "1" due to the strictness of religious doctrine against doubt, most atheists do not consider themselves "7" because atheism arises from a lack of evidence and evidence can always change a thinking person's mind. In print, Dawkins self-identified as a '6', though when interviewed by Bill Maher[3] and later by Anthony Kenny,[4] he suggested '6.9' to be more accurate.

And there, Dawkins, there is God – in the .1 that you missed.

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 1 Corinthians 1:20-23

August 2, 2012 at 8:46 am |

SonOfTheSouthVA

sweet copy/paste job

August 2, 2012 at 11:22 am |

EnjaySea

You're correct. Intelligence, even with casual observation, it's obvious that there is little correlation between belief and intelligence. Obviously, there have been brilliant believers, and brilliant skeptics. Dawkins is one of the brilliant skeptics. And I'm sure you're one of the brilliant believers.

And I think it's also clear from these discussions that it's the idiotic believers that most infuriate the atheists, and the idiot atheists that most infuriate the believers.

August 2, 2012 at 12:07 pm |

NewYorkGal12

Enjay,

Thanks for the compliment – though I'm not all that brilliant. I copied-pasted :)

You're exactly right. Intelligent people just get frustrated/infuriated with people who speak nonsense.

August 2, 2012 at 12:31 pm |

Scott Bier

As I read the comments I am once again reminded that Christians are sometimes the most unChristian people I know.

August 2, 2012 at 2:32 am |

Bronyaurs

Religion Is The Root of All Evil In the World Today. Always Has Been. Always Will Be.

Religious People Control Through Hate And Fear. Always Have. Always Will.

Anyone Who Believe's In god In Light of The History Of The World Or The Mythology Of The Bible(s) Are Simply Too Stupid To Be Alive in The 21St Century.

The People In World Need To Focus On Science and Universal Humanity If We Expect For Our Planet, Peoples and Animals To Endure.

August 2, 2012 at 1:02 am |

RiadaKram

Wow, deep. Nice to able to abandon facts and logic to make a kindergarten level assertion. Do you want to explain the 120-180 million murdered by atheistic communists in the last century? Of course not.

August 2, 2012 at 9:06 am |

EnjaySea

Although I agree with you RiadaKram, that the posters arguments were rather crude, at the same time, I'm afraid the tired old "how many people did your side murder" argument is equally as crude.

People murder people. Of course non-believers have murdered people, so have Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists. Or have you forgotten the Crusades, the Inquisition, the executions by the church during the reformation?

People murder people. You want to count up how many, and somehow use that number to justify your position? Good luck.

August 2, 2012 at 12:15 pm |

dihappy

Enjay,
Right there with you. Its easy to spout the "religion kills" argument and ignore the other for some.

I think its moot because any belief can kill in the name of that belief. Heck people kill for many reasons good and bad.

There are Atheists and there are Christian Haters, i know some of both. I am friends with Atheists and they simply have no "need" or "belief" in a God, it ends there. They can carry a conversation with me and never come across as having some psychological reason for their belief system. Then there are the Christ Haters who, when you speak to them, it is quite evident something happened to them that has caused them to become very defensive and lash out like a child. I will submit that i have met a "Christian" or two with the same "hate" for non-believers.

Its really unfortunate that there must be such animosity between the two in the first place.

August 16, 2012 at 4:40 pm |

Lorraine

chicken CNN, ha, ha, freedom of speech yeah right! ha ha he he. It was a doozie folks, too bad someone at CNN, had no balls to deal with it, ha, lol, ooh.

August 1, 2012 at 9:31 pm |

Thaddaeus

Well, someone should really explain all this correctly (and brief as poss) so it might as well be me. After the sin of Adam and Eve mankind is fallen, you are born in sin and will die and go to hell, there you will remain until the Great White Throne Judgement, after which death, hell and all sinners along with satan and the other fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire...forever and ever and ever.

Most of you reading this must understand one thing, the above is your story, most ignore this and some have made a terrible mistake of denying God. You...You have seperated yourself from the love and protection of God, sin seperates humans from God. When you die your sins will seperate you from God and suck you into the pit, and you did it to yourself.

Sin seperates, sin seperates, sin seperates "you" from God's love and mercy. One big problem today is that the world is full of preachers who don't have the guts to tell the truth and just give people their weekly feel good and sent them out into the world just as lost as they ever were.

There is one God, the mighty God of Israel, there is one and only one name by which you can be saved...Jesus. He is God made flesh. There is no trinity, no other name or religion. Jesus is God!

God will not be mocked, of that I assure you. God HATES sin, of this I assure you. But, he is not willing that one would perish and wants you to come to him. If you will do that you will be protected, if not you are a child of darkness and reap what you sow, sin is death.

Isiah 17: The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

August 2, 2012 at 1:33 am |

Dorothy

If you want the answer, that means you are going to have to pick up a Bible and study it, not just "read" it. Too many people make some of the most ignorant and sick comments without so much as investigating what is written in the Bible, why Born Again Believers believe what we believe. It's like someone saying they don't like cake because they have never tasted it, don't know what the ingrdients are in the cake, but just don't like cake.

August 1, 2012 at 9:15 pm |

Wijaya Kesuma

Collin, u are my prophet..... along with Dawkins, Hitchens, and Hawking....

August 1, 2012 at 9:13 pm |

NewYorkGal12

There you go, always looking for something to worship and someone to follow. What happened to "free thinking"?

August 1, 2012 at 9:41 pm |

Jonquil

These individuals didn't have the "free will" to decide whether or not they would be sacrificed so people could "shine" God and gather together. We can assume they wanted to live. Where was their expression of "free will" in this situation? Religious leaders free themselves from the obligation of talking about evil, by pretending that it's only a matter of free will and people can choose what they want and the consequences are only personal ("between you and God").

I'm sick of Americans having to defer to this nonsense. I'm not saying that our existence isn't already strange enough, that God couldn't exist, I just think it's offense to not allow people to mourn because we have to be conditioned into saying that senseless deaths are the necessary catalyst, to bring communities together in the praise of God.

August 1, 2012 at 8:30 pm |

GodFreeNow

I hear ya... Well, god has always been the fallback position for those who cannot accept reality.

August 1, 2012 at 9:30 pm |

Michael B

No religions person in any discussion of the shootings has claimed that these murders were "necessary." Quite the opposite. They were the will and the choice of one depraved individual. His choice was to take away a lifetime of free will and choices from his victims. That is why murder is such a heinous crime.

August 2, 2012 at 5:42 am |

Joshua Allen

Dear atheists:

This is God. I hope you are doing well (although I know that some of you are not). Let me say first that it’s ok to doubt me. Many have doubted me throughout the history of the world and I’ve watched people try and figure me out only to give up and then say I don’t exist. That is a fair thing because at least they tried. But I’m going to tell you why most of you don’t believe in me:

“Everything you have been told about me is wrong”

Yes. I can see and do anything I please. But bear in mind I also gave YOU the ability to say and do whatever you wish. You think I want to waste my time controlling every little thing that every human on the planet does? For my sake, I could turn a galaxy into a big bowling alley and have some fun blowing up stars! What about your personal autonomy? Kind of defeats the purpose of autonomy doesn’t it? What happened in Aurora is not because of something I did or didn’t do. It was something one of you did. In fact every killing in history has been a result of something you all did and chose to do. If you truly believe that I do not exist, well then the blood of humanity is on your hands. I’m an easy target to scapegoat because I’m not out trying to convince you to believe in me. That is your personal choice and I respect whatever you choose. But if you don’t believe in me, then stop blaming me when something bad happens or something doesn’t go your way. Also I would appreciate it if you stop making fun of people that find some comfort in believing in me. You may think it’s ridiculous, but I implore you, let them have their comfort because it helps them get through their hard times.

Lastly, I beg you, please do some research on me and actually talk to more people besides your local congregation about why they believe. You might be surprised about what people are saying about me.

Cute but nowhere near as intelligent or thoughtful as the post you are trying to copy.

Your biggest fallacy among many? Atheists don't blame you for anything. You don't exist. They only point out the possibility of blame to show how inconsistent the believers' position is.

August 1, 2012 at 8:35 pm |

annabeth

We must remember the REAL reason for religion: It is a business. A profitable one.
A business must stay open – so, when there are no FACTS, the business owners make some up.
Enron, churches, Madoff – no difference.

August 1, 2012 at 7:14 pm |

Henry

Same old same old. I've heard nothing new. Don't these guys get bored giving the same lame explanation again time after time after time ? When good things happen, God gets the credit, and when bad things happen, people get the blame because we made a bad choice. Now how about natural disasters that kill tens of thousands ? Again..... same old same old explantions....etc ,etc, etc ! ! ! ! What else is new ?

August 1, 2012 at 6:48 pm |

One one

Here is a tip for the religious commenters: KEEP IT SHORT !

Some of these posts are so long, no one wants to read them, especially if they are just a flood of copy-n-paste preaching.

If you can't make your point in a few sentences, it most likely is not that convincing.

August 1, 2012 at 6:10 pm |

Andrew

Big issues require big answers. Perhaps that is why you don't believe or understand....you are unwilling to put the time and effort in?

August 1, 2012 at 6:39 pm |

Mohammed_Islam

Dear Isaiah_Christian and M,

You can say whatever you want to... Al Quran teaches that God created human in different nationality, ethnicity, language so that one can interact with other and then HE gave free will to every single one of the human... and every one of us will be held accountable for the using of this 'free will'.... if HE wanted to make every single human to believe in HIM alone without any association with HIM, HE could have... then where is the test? then there is no need of hell and heavens, no need of good and evil... every one will be a good one... but because of free will we have human doing wrong things to others in terms of preaching them to take them away from worshipping one God and so on... and also no will be accountable for others... its like you are on your own on that day and no counselor/helper... the only helper will be your good deeds that you have done in this earthly life...

O our Lord, have mercy on us on that day as we all are sinner...

Anyways, I hope you have read following verse where John wrote:

John 14:26
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.

And so it is mentioned in the quran:

And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic." Al Quran 61: 6

Also if you would like to know what Jesus will be asked by his Creator on that day:

Al Quran 5:17 And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen.
Al Quran 5:18 I said not to them except what You commanded me – to worship Allah , my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.
Al Quran 5:19 If You should punish them – indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them – indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Now decision/choice is yours dear brothers and sisters in humanity...

Peace!!!

August 1, 2012 at 5:43 pm |

No Truth, Just Claims

My decision is the god of Abraham is an immoral monster.

August 1, 2012 at 5:48 pm |

One one

I'm sorry, I fell asleep reading this. Would you please repeat it ?

August 1, 2012 at 6:15 pm |

"then where is the test?"

I'm sorry. I don't want to be "tested".

Tell god to shove his test up his ass.

August 1, 2012 at 6:54 pm |

Mohammed_Islam

wake up 'One one", get a cup of caffeine :)

To "then where is the test?" – you are being tested... what you are saying is part of the tests :) you were created to believe in One God and by using the free will you are denying the oneness of God... this is the biggest test... and so in your daily life... you will see everything on that day and its promise of the Almighty to the humanity... but we just have to be patient and wait till the day comes.... when it will come? its only known by the Almighty as Muhammad and Jesus both said that same that the knowledge is with Allah....

Peace!!!

August 1, 2012 at 11:38 pm |

Niyah

I'm a Christian, non-denominational, and the fact that people don't believe in God because of that shooter is sickening. God was right there, with everyone. He is everywhere. That shooter allowed Satan to tell him what to do; kill… defy God. And he listened, which is exactly what Satan wanted. It's sad though, but this had to happen. It was in God's Will. If it wasn't it wouldn't of happened. But, God was with those people, the ones that died, the ones that survived- it was all for a reason. He's in the hearts of this children, his believers…and those who don't believe in him. He still loves them. He loves us all, wether we do wrong or right. I'm not trying to change you're mind or anything, but I am trying to get you to think… to understand how we Christians think. I've prayed for those families, for the souls that died…that they did in fact believe in God, accepted Jesus Christ as they're savior and asked God to forgive them for their sins so that they may be welcome into the gates of Heaven. God was right there, he's everywhere- the Alpha Omega: Beginning and End; And God will always be with us all.

August 1, 2012 at 5:15 pm |

No Truth, Just Claims

"It was in God's Will."

Please explain how it was god's will, but god is not responsible. Your dogma makes not sense.

August 1, 2012 at 5:27 pm |

Andrew

God's will is to allow people to choose for themselves whether they choose good or evil. We are all responsible for ourselves.

August 1, 2012 at 6:41 pm |

So he loves us and then sends us to hell for eating shrimp?

Screw him, then.

August 1, 2012 at 6:55 pm |

commentsguy

Yeah, blame it on Satan. I once heard a little girl say "mommy told me a tree blew down in last night because of the devil". What utter baloney. Is it so hard to say – "well honey the trees roots were not deep enough so the tree got blown over just like the wind might blow you over if its real strong" ? What drivel. And this was a well off family living in a great neighbourhood whose kids went to an expensive private school!

August 1, 2012 at 6:56 pm |

owlafaye

Niyah blah blah blah...same old idiocy

Watch Out, the Big Booger Booger in the sky is a'gonna getcha..........

Duck!

August 1, 2012 at 10:31 pm |

NewYorkGal12

Commentsguy,

Bottom line, you weren't there. #1. The little girl could have lied. It is not under the realm of impossibility. Children lie all the time, or have great imaginations; She could have been making it up.
#2. If the mom really said that, you have no idea what was behind the statement – no idea. You don't know what their family was going through at the time. Did you go to the mom afterwards and spoke to her? You could've done that if you were really concerned about the little girl and her crazy statement. Instead you chose to judge the parent.
#3. Supposing this mom really was wacko, she is a single individual. She may or may not have been a believer in God, and particularly, Christian.

August 2, 2012 at 7:51 am |

jesus freak

HELLO EVERYONE PLZ TAKE TIME TO READ THIS NO MATTER YOUR BELEIFS.........

i am not here to down anyone about there beleifs or to tell them they are wrong everyone one has the right to believe what they want to.. everyone has an opionion and in todays time it is spoken alot more .,.... but i do need to make some things clear.. alot of ppl are making funny comments about if there was a god then why did all these bad things happen... and if there is a god then all these bad things that happen makes him a cruel uncaring god for not stopping it.... well my lord jesus christ states very clearly that he not going to force anyone to choose his way.. and it also clearly states that all these bad things are gonna happen because there are evil spritis who roam around and try to get ppl to sin so that they do fall short of his grace.... i understand for a few of you this is hard to believe that some imaginary being both good and evil r fighting over us humans.. i could understand for some ppl who has never felt his present this could be ignorant... that your opionion.... but i have felt god and it wasnt at church or in a group of ppl telling me i felt him... i was in my own home and he came into my heart and lit a fire that has never went away... in that one instance that he choose me to be different and go into the world and speak his word... and it was such a power feeling that i cant even hardly explain.... and for the few that made the comments about why would he suffer his ppl with killings, wars, famine, droughts, amd earthquakes.... if you feel up to it check out revalations that was wrote thousands and thousands of yrs ago and it is predicting everything that is happing in todays times... cause we r in the end of times and revalations in the bible acts as a timeline for the ones who believe... but like i said before he loves all ppl no matter what they done who they are and what they believe... because he created us... but i okay with you all have those opionions i dont hold anything agaisnt you i just hope you check a few facts before posting some of the stuff you do.... NOW FELLOW CHRISTIANS you should no better then to argue you with anyone... if you have no idea what i mean read the book of matthew in the bible and it will explain god clearly says not to fight back, or retaliate in any way.. to be a true christian you have to be understanding to everyone and be there for them and pray for them ... not call them names and make nasty remarks... that is not of god.. r jobs as christian is not to judge.. cause that his job... r job is not to try to convince anyone but simple tell them so they know..... christians we have to be the example and live are life to his word and he will do everything else... how can anyone ever believe things you tell them bout god if you dont live your life being an example not downing ppl cuz they dont know any better... i am sure alot of you are gonna comment some good comments and some bad and some nasty i know this already cuz u dont agree with me and that ok i dont hate you for it i love everyone cuz your my brothers and sisters.... i am not gonna respond back cuz i am not gonna argue or say any negative things about anyone .... GOD CARES ABOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF U... NO MATTER IF YOU BELIEVE OR NOT.... HE MOST LIKELY TRIED TO REACH YALL A TIME OR TWO... BUT YOU EITHER DIDNT CARE... OR THOUGHT IT WAS STUPID AND THAT OK HE LOVES YOU ANYWAYS

Indomt even know where to begin. Yes, everyone has a right to believe whatever they want. Not all beliefs are valid, or equally rational, but they are beliefs nonetheless

All I can say is, keep your beliefs to yourself. Don't bring it around me or my family. Keep it to yourself and don't try to change anyone else's beliefs. If you can do that, then I would have no problem with your beliefs.

Of course, since its inception, religion and in particular christianity, does not leave people alone. They are always preaching and trying to convert and, most disgusting of all, stating that unless you believe as they do, you are incomplete and will go to hell.

The god of the bible is not a moral being, it is a good thing it is fiction...

August 1, 2012 at 5:23 pm |

commentsguy

Another god whack job. I suppose you voted for those morons who killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq because god loves us. And people have been saying its the end of times since the book of revelations was written. It's a self fullfilling prophecy if anything for Christians. They want it to happen and so they will destroy this earth because it is on their agenda.

August 1, 2012 at 7:01 pm |

So - you DO understand that your god LOST to Satan, right?

You admit it yourself – there are "demons" wandering around looking for ways to pull people away from your Jeebus.

Well – THEY'VE WON! More people in the world – past present & future – do NOT believe in him or his hocus pocus than DO believe. That means that God created more souls that are going to hell than are going to heaven.

What a LOSER! He can't even get a smidgen over 50% of his creation to follow or even BELIEVE in him! HA!

What a frigging joke your pathetic Jeebus is! LOSER!

August 1, 2012 at 7:02 pm |

NDNWarlord

God does not and cannot abide sin in any form or degree. Don't ask..."where was God". instead ask...where was he not?...in the life of that one man. Why not?...Parents?...yes you are responsible for your offspring. Teachers?...yes..you too...God is where he has always been, waiting for us to seek him. Ask the right questions, the answers will be in front of your face.

August 1, 2012 at 4:31 pm |

No Truth, Just Claims

Well god made the rules so apparently he is fine with sin. Not to mention god ordered mass murder in the bible so he seems to like it.

August 1, 2012 at 4:40 pm |

Christian !

Why don't any of our Religios leaders who everything about Gdo but don't know anything in advance to stop any of these events... cause God don't do this and God don't do that... :):)

WE LIMIT GOD BY OUR OWN IGNORANCE OF HIM...!!!!

August 1, 2012 at 4:51 pm |

Niyah

thank you! exactly(:

August 1, 2012 at 5:16 pm |

Ray

..and what.. exactly, are the "Right" questions?

I can only think of one... "Why do you continue to allow humanity to destroy itself?"

August 1, 2012 at 7:38 pm |

Jim

Or God is a fairy tale that has no power over anything or anyone because he does not exist.
Yeah that's definitely crazier than thinking a God who loves us just sits back and watches people die in the street.If I lost a loved one in that shooting and someone told me it was par tof God's plan? I'd punch them in the mouth.

August 1, 2012 at 4:22 pm |

TJ

Who said it was part of God's plan? As the pastor says, He endowed us with free will and we make choices between good and evil.

August 1, 2012 at 4:38 pm |

Christian !

would punching them in the mouth bring your loved ones back...Well no but it woudl certain make you feel good huh?

NO it wouldn't ...you are emotional about this issue.. cause fried foods will kill a lot moer people before their tims...so the question I would now like to ask is where was god when we ate all those fattening foods which clogged our arteries .. :):)

Where was Gdo wehn we ran that red light and got killed hammered by that 18 wheeler... God is at all places at all times...

here's a clue He knew before the foundaiton otf the world aol about thisi tradgedy in Colo... but said noghing abotu ti to anyone ..Especailly non of our religious lkeaders...

August 1, 2012 at 4:48 pm |

greg

GOD does exist!! He exists in one of the greatest story books ever written by man; The Bible!

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.